Mantis
Mantis, the all mighty warrior, was a promotional hero, being released if Foursaken Media received enough votes. Votes were acquired by liking their status on Facebook and by commenting on Twitter. Fans were sceptical as votes didn't seem to go high enough. However, FM decided just to release Mantis anyway. Description: Mantis is a quick, durable tank, just like Ladybug. Most of his skills involve the kill count of the duration of the skill, which in turn increases a stat depending on the skill. He has powerful attacks and good defense, but is a little more vulnerable than Beetle. Like Praying Mantis in real life, Mantis' is much more effective when standing still, at least with certain skills and equipment. He is also very large compared to most of the other heroes, even Beetle. He's obviously very unique, yet doesn't quite cut the bill. Mantis' backstory was never revealed, which is unfortunate. Skills and Equipment Weapon: '''Much like Grass Hopper, Mantis uses his own limbs to defeat the enemies. Mantis' weapon is his Claws. His Claws are the tips of his front legs which are posed in a praying position. His front legs look like arms because he doesn't use them for walking, but in reality they aren't arms. Mantis' Claws are fairly powerful, being less than Spider, but more powerful than most other heroes. His attacks are fairly slow yet are faster than Beetle's and also have good AOE, similar to Beetle's attacks. Overall, he is just like Ladybug; his attacks are a mixture of Spider's and Beetles. However Mantis' attacks focus more on large AOE than quick, high damage attacks, like Ladybug. One major difference between both Beetle and Spider is that Mantis' attacks only damage one bug at a time. They may knockback many bugs, but only one will actually be damaged. This is especially noticeable when attacking baby spiders. Though many are knockbacked, even they survive despite extremely low HP. When upgraded, Mantis's Claws turn into Talons, which have a lot more spikes on them. Besides the difference in looks, Talons also deal more damage and knockback. When upgraded again, Mantis' final weapon is revealed, Scythes. These add even more damage and knockback, as well as having a massive blade at the end of each of Mantis' claws. Upgrading Mantis' weapons is important, as his attacks will quickly be outrun by many fleas and ants crowding the map. With more knockback, the enemies will be more spread out with each attack and the extra damage will help defeat the bigger baddies. '''In-Game Description: Claws-- Damage: Medium-Heavy. Does good damage and can also knockback (but not damage) surrounding enemies. Upgrade to Talons for more damage and knocking power. Talons-- Damage: Heavy. Great for mutilating your enemies. Upgrade to Scythes for more damage and knocking power. Scythes-- Damage: Heavy. The perfect choice for tearing your prey apart. Level-Up Skills: '''Mantis has unique skills, some which aren't seen in any other hero. He has Health (increases max by 40 and heals by 80), Armor (increases both melee and ranged armor), Vicious (increases the chance to damage multiple enemies with regular attacks) and Concentration (increases the damage inflicted on enemies when standing still). '''Recommended Level-Up Skills: '''Armor and Vicious are a must if you want Mantis to meet Beetle's standards. Both should be upgraded first, as Vicious will conpensate for not being able to damage many enemies with regular attacks, increasing the crowd control. Armor is needed so that Mantis survives better. Consentration is good for killing grubs, as they are slow enough that Mantis will be able to attack them well enough before they pass by him. Health goes last, however you may use it to heal him if he is currently on low health. Abilities '''Feast: Used in battle to boost Mantis's speed proportionate to the amount of food eaten. He eats every food that he's carrying and heals. Lasts for a good amount of time but doesn't boost speed nearly as much as it worth it. 500 cost, 45 sec cooldown. Warrior Blade: Mantis throws a large radius blade in a straight line. Useful for groups of enemies and chokepoints. It also stuns and knocks back most foes. Good cooldown time too. It's large radius makes it hard to misuse. 700 cost, Medium damage, 40 sec cooldown. Reckless doubles Mantis's attack but in turn, has no knockback capabilities. Pairing this skill with Thick Hide is useful. Good against strong enemies since they are resistant to most knockbacks. 800 cost, 70 sec cooldown. Last Stand increases Mantis's damage when he has less than 1/3 health. Use in battle for him to receive only 25% of damage. Even with no cost, this ability is almost worthless. His speed should passively increase too. 800 cost, 80 sec cooldown. Rage is one of those unique abilities -- for the duration it lasts, his damage increases after every hit by an enemy. The damage of the enemy doesn't change anything, so it is best on crowds of small bugs.' 700 cost, 80 sec cooldown.' Unstoppable increases his armour for every hit on him. Unless used precisely in the correct situation, you'll waste it, underestimate its worthlessness and probably lose more health than you thought. 800 cost, 80 sec coodown. Thick Hide equips onto Mantis's back some nifty selections of spines. They passively increase his armour and knocks back and stuns enemies who attack when activated. This is a must for reaching Beetle's standards. 800 cost, 40 sec cooldown. Steadfast will increase the warrior's armour when standing still. Use it in battle for him to be invincible without moving. When used correctly, this will get you out of many a situation. 800 cost, 80 sec cooldown. Defender increases the damage of your turrets every time Mantis kills an enemy. Make sure your turret slots are full and you've got a good deal of damage turrets for this to be worth the risk.' 700 cost, 80 sec cooldown.' Fury increases his damage and speed every time he kills someone. It seems similar to Rage, but has a more "risk for reward" stragety. You'll get more speed along with damage, but you'll need to kill the enemies. If you see some big bad enemies paired with a group of smaller enemies, activate the ability, aim for the little guys, then smash the bug ones. 1000 cost, 80 sec cooldown. Predator has the ability of healing him 25 with every enemy eliminated by him. If used incorrectly (which may be easy), you'll probably end up with the same health you started with or even lower health. For the lesser of risks, use this (when he's currently frail) on grubs. Paired with Last Stand, he'll probably have the time to kill more grubs than without it. 800 cost, 70 sec cooldown. Ambush: Will do slightly more damage when you hit the back of enemies. Use in battle for more damage. Only useful for the few enemies that are slow enough that Mantis can keep attacking their back, which is rare for someone as slow as him. 1000 cost, 50 sec cooldown Warrior Blow: Use in battle to take away 75% of a single enemy. Very useful for heavily armored bugs like scorpions. It is easily one of the best abilities in the game. 800 cost, 60 sec cooldown. Night Stalker: Increases Mantis's armor, damage and speed during night. Use in battle to force night time and heal 15 hp for every kill. Strangely, it costs a whopping 1500, much more than Warrior Blow, which is a much better ability. Maybe FM just wanted to give the young players a quick way to get a game-changer. 1500 cost, 100 sec cooldown. Recommended Basic Loadout: '''Feast, Warrior Blade, Last Stand, Thick Hide, Warrior Blow '''Recommended Avdancded Loadout: Warrior Blade (It can easily cut off weaken a horde of bugs) , Thick Hide (just so that Mantis can reach his tanking potential), Steadfast (You can kill many grubs as they go by while other enemies just attack, doing nothing to tou) , Fury (the risk vs reward makes this ability hard to use, but definitely has a great reward) , Warrior Blow (To kill big large enemies. Very easy to use). '''Coliseum Loadout: '''Last Stand, Rage, Predator, Warrior Blade/Warrior Blow. When you are low at health (or not) surrounded, use last stand with rage and predator, wiping out any bugs that is attacking you doing massive damage and regaining health wothout receiving too much damage. Warrior Blade is used for groups of bugs, but you can use Warrior Blow for big enemies like Scorpions. Strategy 'This is a Coliseum strategy. Upon leveling up, max armor as quickly as you can and get Steadfast and Thick Hide. These will let you minimize damage, and to a greater extent while standing still. Begin to level up Concentration and Vicous, upgrade them together or choose one over the other. Get Warrior Blow, Last Stand, Predator, and Warrior Blade. With this loadout, you want to generally attempt to avoid as much damage as possible, and stop when you know you can't avoid an attack. The high armor levels, Steadfast and Thick Hide will let you soak the damage. Keep Warrior Blade equipped until you're low, and then replace Warrior Blade and Warrior Blow with Predator and Last Stand. Activate them at the right time and you should get a lot of your health back. I'm not exactly sure if I'm what'd you'd consider good, I am able to reach round 19 on normal using this strategy, yet this is without optimal play from me. -Heafp, added using an anonymous account. Gallery Mantis in the Night.jpg Mantis (teaser picture).jpg 2.2 Update is out!.jpg Mantis in the hero select screen.jpg Category:Heroes Category:Melee Heroes